Hot air has long been utilized to dry clothes. Hot air dryers have been constructed in which the clothes are tumbled to aid in the ability of the hot air to circulate throughout the items of clothing placed in the drying chamber. Such clothes dryers have been further modified to direct the hot air into a garment bag in which clothes which might be damaged by the tumbling action can be hung for drying. (See U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,197,886 and 3,417,481)
For use by travelers, garment bags have been modified to accept the nozzles from portable hair dryers as a source of hot air to dry clothes as noted in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,975,529 and 4,572,364.
Chancellor, Jr., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,928 teaches a room heating unit to be mounted in the wall and which is a combination heater and drying cabinet. The hot air can be directed into the room, into the drying cabinet and then out into the room, or the hot air can be directed into a nozzle attachment to be used as a hair dryer.
There have been several inventions which utilize hot air from a forced air heating unit or furnace to dry clothes. Spangle (Des. 208,372) designed a register for mounting over a wall hot air duct. The register has a single bar drying rack attached over which clothes can be hung to be dried in front of the register.
Williams (U.S. Pat. No. 1,590,143) teaches an insulated cabinet, closed on the top and on the four sides, but open on the bottom, with drying racks inside. The cabinet can also be constructed with double walls having an air space between them. The invention is placed over a floor register and the hot air is directed into the cabinet where clothes are hung for drying. The heat and moisture are trapped inside. When this device is used all of the hot air is directed into the cabinet and none is permitted to enter the room.
Canonge (U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,773) teaches a closed garment bag, constructed of vinyl or other non-porous, material which can be connected by way of a flexible non-porous duct to a hot air register. The hot air is directed into the bag where clothes are hung for drying. The air exits the bag by way of seams and the zipper closing. A porous fabric may also be used and the air can exit through the pores in the fabric. The hot air is directed into the bag and is not utilized to heat the room. The bag is specifically designed such that there is only a limited outflow of heat and moisture.
Sullivan has developed a three-sided bottomless covered structure to be hung on the outside of a motor home just above the propane gas vent. The hot gases exiting the vent are directed upward into the structure where clothes can be hung for drying. The heated exhaust gases directed toward the clothes may contain components which can impart undesirable odors to the clothes. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,928).
Today, with the high cost of fuel and dwindling supplies, there is a need for a portable drying unit which can be placed over a hot air register to utilize the hot air being expelled into the room to dry clothes without preventing the hot air from circulating into the room and, additionally, to add needed humidity to the air in the room.